


Can You Please Come And Get Me

by Aleixi



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Dark Thoughts, Depictions of depression, Fear, Hurt/Comfort, feeling alone, reaching out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 12:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20174428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aleixi/pseuds/Aleixi
Summary: It wasn’t as though Stretch had never called him before after all. Granted it was an unusual thing for him to do so but it wasn’t as though it was completely unheard of. There was hardly anything unusual about any of this. And yet...“Can you please come and get me?”





	Can You Please Come And Get Me

**Author's Note:**

> First to get it out of the way, I own nothing! Nothing at all!
> 
> Second and here’s the big one, this does depict depression in just one of many forms that beast takes. Nothing graphic, but if you are someone who gets triggered by dark thoughts, please proceed with caution. If you find yourself in the same kind of situation as described, please take care of yourself. Reaching out is best I hear, but for those who can’t or for whom it doesn’t work well, just please take care. And hey, may be a random person on the internet who sucks at keeping in touch with anyone, but I spend a lot of time on this site so if you wanna hit me up I’ll listen to ya :)
> 
> Anyway, hope you like it. It’s been sitting in my notes a while so I apologize if it’s a bit rough. 
> 
> And again all you lovelies, take care of yourselves and know that you have people out there that care about you.

Edge frowned as he tapped his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as he waited for the light to change. Something was bothering him about the phone call he received just moments before getting into his car but he couldn’t quite place it. 

_“Hey Edge, it’s Stretch.”_

_ “I’m quite familiar with your voice.” _

_ “Right, well I was just...” _

It wasn’t as though Stretch had never called him before after all. Granted it was an unusual thing for him to do so but it wasn’t as though it was completely unheard of. 

_“Get on with it. I have things I’d rather be doing than listening to you convert oxygen into carbon dioxide and my cellphone plan does not provide discounts for long stretches of silence.”_

And it wasn’t as though he was never called on for a ride before. As the first and currently only skeleton to have acquired his license it was actually quite common for the others to request a ride back to Surface Home. 

_A hesitant chuckle and the clearing of a throat. “Right, well, I know it’s late but I’m in town right now. Outside of the coffee shop.”_  
  
_ “And?” _

Even late night calls weren’t unusual. His brother was proof enough of that. 

_ “Can you please come and get me?” _

The light finally turned green and Edge pressed perhaps more firmly on the gas than he normally did, his finger tapping becoming more and more nervous as he drove closer to his destination. 

He made it to the coffee shop and sure enough Stretch was standing there, leaning against the old brick building smoking. By the looks of it, he had been there a while judging by the fallen cigarette butts scattered around his feet. 

Edge turned off the engine and stared at the taller skeleton who stared blankly ahead as he finished the cigarette before walking around the passenger side and got in. He didn’t say anything; didn’t so much as look at Edge as he shut the door. 

Edge surveyed him closely, frowning at the shaking hands and tight posture, but if Stretch wasn’t going to volunteer any information, who was he to press for it?

_“Can you please come and get me?” _

There was hardly anything unusual about all of this. Really. Stretch smoked, sometimes too much which could have the added effect of making his magic behave unusually. 

Except Edge knew first hand that cigarettes produced a sluggish effect on skeleton magic; being jittery was out of the cards. 

“What happened?” The words were out of his mouth before he had time to process them. They were calm and casual, said as he turned the key and pulled back into the street. He didn’t even look at Stretch as he said them. 

“Nothing.” 

“Your shaking.”

“It’s fine.” 

Monotone and clipped speech passed between the two where normally sarcasm and disdain were present. Edge felt cold, which should have been impossible what with his high LV. He had been witness to this type of behaviour before and-

_ “Can you please come and get me?” _

-it had never ended well.

“Right...” Edge said, his voice barely a whisper and catching in his nonexistent throat as his hands tightened on the wheel. 

Minutes passed in silence before Edge began to speak. Horror overtook him as he began to divulge some of his most closely guarded secrets, some of which he had never even revealed to his own brother, though Red knew of the event. 

“When we were kids, things were different. Red was...More self destructive. I was...Hopeful. I thought things could be different. That we didn’t have to live in a kill or be killed world. When I was seven though I killed my first monster. It was the first time I had someone else’s dust on my hands, and was when my soul cracked. I was one of the younger ones to have to go through that...”

“Sans didn’t take it well. He...He had tried to protect me but I was young and stupid. After my soul cracked he got worse and started staying out later and smoking more and getting into all kinds of problems. After that...”

“He didn’t Fall. I doubt he would be around today if he had, but it was probably about as close as a monster can come without actually crossing that line.” 

Edge noticed Stretch whip his head in his direction from the corner of his eye, but he continued speaking.

“I was scared when it happened. As few monsters that recover from Falling here, Underfell is worse. And the longer one remains in stasis, the less chance that they’ll recover. Even though it wasn’t a true Fall, it was...Close enough that there wasn’t anything anyone could actually do. He actually didn’t truly come out of it for six years. After three he was...Aware, but there were many days where he was nothing but a hollow shell.”

“He...” Stretch looked away, “he never mentioned anything like that...” his voice was quiet. Had the engine of the car been any louder Edge wouldn’t have heard it. 

“He doesn’t. I don’t know what it was like for him except that he says it was like being in a tunnel and occasionally he would see a light at the end. But for me...I didn’t even have a tunnel. I had no light.”

“What?”

“At first I did. I was in a long dark tunnel and whenever Red would stir or start to come out of it, there was the light. I had hope again that I would get my brother back. But as they say, sometimes that light is merely an oncoming train.” His hands tightened on the wheel as he barked out a single, humourless laugh. “You’d think, after so many times and so long it would stop hurting. You’d think you would adjust to the fear. Humans talk about pessimism being a self preservation measure, about how you’re either right or pleasantly surprised and therefore are never disappointed. What a load of bullshit...”

Edge took the turn that would lead them out of town and back to Surface Home, “Red had a constantly black tunnel. Funny thing with tunnels is even if you can’t see, you can still feel your way out. Cling to the walls and you’ll eventually find a way out of it. I lost that. I lost my tunnel and wound up scared and just groping around in the darkness. No light, no sound, no walls to guide me. I never Fell, not even close to it. I was all too awake for it. I was scared. I had no way out. I had nothing.”

Stretch’s voice shook dangerously as he spoke, “that’s dark, Edge. Kinda bringing me down...”

“That was what it was like for me. All darkness all the time. I couldn’t see a way out of the mess I found myself in. I was scared, shaking, always tired but unable to sleep. Wanting to scream and cry but having to keep up a facade that everything was fine. Even after things improved I was still nothing more than a little kid stumbling around in the dark. Even now.”

Why in the hell was he saying these things? And to Stretch of all people?! The blasted moron would use this against him for sure, and then where the hell would he be?!

_ “Can you please come and get me?” _

Stretch never said please to him, never sounded like he was on the verge of begging. Never sounded so damn scared.

_ “Can you please come and get me?” _

Except that one time he did. He sounded scared, just as Edge had all those years ago. Just as he did most days.

_ “Can you please come and get me?” _

“Pull over.” Stretch whispered and Edge glanced to see the taller skeleton brace himself against the dashboard, “Pull over!”

He needn’t have yelled it. As soon as the whispered words slipped out Edge had been doing just that and just as the car pulled over Stretch had flung the door open, tripping as he ran out. 

Edge watched for a moment before killing the engine, leaning his head on the steering wheel. He turned his head and saw the abandoned cigarette pack on the seat with two cigarettes poking out. He reached over and pulled one out before stepping out of the car, leaning against it as he lit the cigarette with his magic and waited. 

It was nearly two hours before he saw the tall skeleton walking toward him, arms wrapped around himself and shaking. Every few seconds he brought one hood-covered hand up to scrub at his eye sockets and Edge merely stood and waited. 

“You...Waited?” Stretch asked, voice raspier than usual as he approached. 

“You asked me to come get you, didn’t you?” Edge replied calmly. 

Stretch sniffed and nodded, wiping his eye sockets again, “how do you do it?” He asked in a whimper a moment later, “with all that dark, how are you even able to fucking function?!”

Edge gave him a sad smile, “I don’t know,” he said quietly, “What other option is there?”

Stretch wiped at his eyes furiously before lurching forward, clinging desperately to Edge’s shirt. He was shaking terribly and as he cried his hands became more and more desperate, clutching tighter and trying to pull himself closer until Edge hesitantly wrapped his arms around the tall but slight skeleton that was suddenly so fragile and hugged so tightly that he was certain Stretch would break but as minutes passed the older skeleton slowly calmed and regained his composure. 

“I-I’m sorry...” Stretch apologized as he finally pulled back. 

“Don’t be. Ready to go home?”

Stretch nodded and the two climbed back in the car, this time Stretch turning on the radio and propping his knees against the dashboard as he pulled out his phone, tapping away either texting or playing some absurd game. 

“So what happened?” Edge asked over the obnoxious music. 

“Nothin’, just more of the same.” Stretch replied nonchalantly. “It’s always the fucking same...” he lowered his phone and leaned his head back, staring at the roof of the car, “when does it get better? How do I make it better?”

Edge shook his head, “don’t know. You’ll have to tell me when you find out. I suspect you’ll find a way out long before I ever do.” He let out a dry, humourless laugh, “I doubt there is a way out for me at this point.”

“What do you mean?” The fear was back in his voice now and Edge sighed.

“I mean you have friends, Stretch. Family. People who will look out for you. Be there for you. Help you. As hard as it is, if you can find the strength to ask for help, you’ll have it. You have people who care about you. Your brother, Sans, Papyrus-hell, even my brother can offer decent advice if you have the patience and can weed through the sarcasm.”

“And you don’t?”

“I’ve lived with him far too long to have anything resembling patience with his nonsense.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

They were silent for a long time before Edge finally pulled into the driveway of the house Blue and Stretch shared. He shifted the car into park and sighed heavily. 

“If you ever need someone to talk to, you have options. You don’t have to fight in the dark alone.” He turned with a wry smile to look at the taller skeleton, “frankly, it’s not something I recommend.”

Stretch just nodded, looking down at his knees as he placed one hand on the door handle, though he didn’t open it. “Right...Thanks again...”

“Just try not to make a habit of calling me in the dead of night looking for rides.” The light had turned on in the Swap house, and Edge was pretty sure Stretch didn’t want his brother seeing him like this. It was an out. A desperate attempt to bring everything back to normal. 

“Right,” Stretch glanced at the door which had opened revealing Blue standing in the doorway, waving cheerfully. He opened the door, “cuz I want to spend anymore time with an uptight bastard like you.”

“Good luck finding a ride again.” 

“Thing about the surface, there’s this great thing called Uber!” Stretch called as he slammed the door and walked up the steps. 

“Then why the hell did you waste my time?” Edge shot back.

“Cheaper!” Stretch waved carelessly with a laugh and Edge could hear Blue’s chastising tone as the brothers entered the house. Seemed the plan had worked. 

Edge drove the few blocks back to his own house. Unlike Stretch, his own brother was not waiting up for him. At least not visibly. Edge was all too aware that Red was acutely aware of anyone entering and exiting their house, just as he himself was thanks to the magical wards that they kept in every residence they had ever lived in. He walked up the stairs silently and into his room, pulling his cellphone from his pocket and laying it on the bedspread which he changed back into his pajamas. 

Just as he was finishing getting ready for bed he heard the low buzz of his phone, and tapped the screen to check the new message. 

** you have options too **

** -stretch **


End file.
